Thompson & McCarty, P.C. CPA

JP Morgan Chase Bank (Formerly Chase and Bank One) has notified my office that they are no longer going to participate in the Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) program that T&M has used since our inception.  They thought so much of our business relationship that they sent me the following letter on April 30, 2010 to notify me of their decision.

Letter:  We are writing to let you know that we have decided to discontinue our Tax Related Products business because it does not fit strategically with JP Morgan Chase’s businesses.  We have appreciated working with you to help your customers and hope you share our pride in the significant improvements we have made together over the last three years.

Our 2010 referral contest was once again a tremendous success.  I don't mind sharing with you that dollar for dollar comparisons to any other advertising that we have ever tried, your referrals are the best value.  The results are final and the grand prize winner was Tanya Bender.  Tanya won a 42" HDTV.  Second place through 14 place all had the same number of referrals so a drawing was held.  Second place ($200 gift certificate) went to Kevin and Rachel Holland and Third Place ($100 gift certificate) went to Thomas and Christina Shipp.  We look forward to the 2011 filing season.  If you have prize suggestions for us drop us an email or give us a call.  

There are many different reasons for choosing to Incorporate your business.  The best reason is typcially liability protection for personal assets.  I see and hear stories of all kinds of poorly formed and or operated corporate entities  which do little to protect the owners when they need it.  Here is a well written piece from a business associate and friend that has a very good feel for this issue.  The bottom line is don't do it if you do not intend to maintain the correct form which means following processes that will limit the way you conduct business.  

President Bush signed a stimulus package into last week and most of the attention has been on the tax rebates for individuals. However, the bill also contains several provisions that should benefit small and midsized companies.

The bill gives companies a 50 percent bonus deduction on new equipment and increases the limit on expensing capital expenditures to $250,000, double the regular $125,000.

The Section 179 expensing and Bonus depreciation provisions of the bill will help small businesses in terms of providing them with cash flow to expand their businesses.

Here are some factoids about the taxes we pay.

• In 2005 the federal government took $2.4 trillion out of the pocket of the American people. That is about the same size as the entire 1959 U.S economy in 1959 in inflation adjusted terms.
• According to the Tax Foundation, three fifths of taxpayers believe their taxes are too high. About 2% think they are too low (WHAT!?)
• 80% of taxpayers believe that the tax system is too complex. 3% actually thinks the tax system is fine the way it is. More than 2 out of 3 say they would give up major tax deductions (mortgage interet, taxes) for lower tax rates. (This is a tax spend politicians dream come true. He'll just cut the dedcuction and then say we can't afford the rate cut)
• In 2005 mortgage interet dedcutions account for tax saving of $62 billion with 72% of that going to those with incomes under $200,000.
• The child credit saved taxpayers $46 billion almost all of it claimed by the middle class (That's because this was targeted to the middle class).

The decision that all business owners will eventually face is how to handle their accounting needs. Good accounting is an essential piece of real business management. Accounting is the collection and or capture of financial transactions and the subsequent presentation of that data in the form of an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. The very basis for measuring the effectiveness of an entities transactions is present on the statements listed above. Therefore, it is impossible to manage a business without an effective accounting model. There are two basic choices for creating an accounting system. One can outsource the accounting function or it can be set up as in house business activity. This article will cover the advantages and disadvantages of both methods in the hope of assisting business owners with making a decision on what is best for their companies.

This may seem like a dumb question but I will go on record here and say that 90% of the people that I come into contact with on a daily basis never really understand what business management really is. The typical entrepreneur has this idea that management is making it happen. How he makes it happen has more to do with his personality and willingness to work until the job is done than management skill. I will repeat that. The typical business owner makes his business successful due to his commitment to work until he completes his task, no matter what. That attitude has nothing to do with good business management.